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Top Ten Books For The First Half of 2017

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is all thanks to Broke and the Bookish!

There are so many good books coming out so soon, guys. I know I just got a ridiculous amount of new books in Nov/Dec but... 2017 is almost here and a lot of my favorite authors are going to have books published. It was hard to pare this list down butsome I want to put on here (coughTheComfortZonecough) don't have a pub date yet... so that helped. Somewhat.

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always
feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's
been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take
someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a
stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the
Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his
chance to lose his dream forever.What happened in Weep two
hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly
did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the
mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?The answers
await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned
goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams. How did he dream her before he
knew she existed? and if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so
real?In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National
Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times
bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past
is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall
into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love
and carnage.Welcome to Weep.

I only allowed myself to finally read the two Dreamdark books because I knew I would not have to wait long for Strange to come along. No one can write like Laini Taylor <3

The long-awaited final
book in the Falconer trilogy is an imaginative tour-de-force that will
thrill fans of the series. Aileana Kameron, resurrected by ancient fae
magic, returns to the world she once knew with no memory of her past and
with dangerous powers she struggles to control. Desperate to break the
curse that pits two factions of the fae against each other in a struggle
that will decide the fate of the human and fae worlds, her only hope is
hidden in an ancient book guarded by the legendary Morrigan, a faery of
immense power and cruelty.

To save the world and the people she loves,
Aileana must learn to harness her dark new powers even as they are
slowly destroying her. Packed with immersive detail, action, romance,
and fae lore, and publishing simultaneously in the UK, The Fallen Kingdom brings the Falconer's story to an epic and unforgettable conclusion.

Ooooh I am not ready for the damage this is going wreak on me/my emotions. Well I am. But it's going to be painful and I am going to love it? I'm anticipating many uses of this gif:

Sixteen-year-old
Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she
lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance
between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal
shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police
officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a
national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer
and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s
name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her
family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that
night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

This book has been on the community's radar and collective TBR for a looong time. I am beyond glad the pub date was moved up by a few months; the sooner this book gets into my/the public hands, the better. The title, the cover, it all sounds and looks perfect.

"Firefly" meets DUNE in
this action-packed sci-fi adventure about a close-knit, found family of
a crew navigating a galaxy of political intrigue and resource-driven
power games.

Nev has just joined the crew of the starship Kaitan
Heritage as the cargo loader. His captain, Qole, is the youngest-ever
person to command her own ship, but she brooks no argument from her crew
of orphans, fugitives, and con men. Nev can’t resist her, even if her
ship is an antique.

As for Nev, he’s a prince, in hiding on the
ship. He believes Qole holds the key to changing galactic civilization,
and when her cooperation proves difficult to obtain, Nev resolves to get
her to his home planet by any means necessary.

But before they
know it, a rival royal family is after Qole too, and they’re more
interested in stealing her abilities than in keeping her alive.

Nev’s
mission to manipulate Qole becomes one to save her, and to survive,
she’ll have to trust her would-be kidnapper. He may be royalty, but Qole
is discovering a deep reservoir of power—and stars have mercy on
whoever tries to hurt her ship or her crew.

I love the comparisons mentioned (Dune more than Firefly, FIGHT ME) so this is a pre-order book for me. It just sounds like so much fun and also kinda reminds me of The Force Awakens. So lets hope there is also a pair of Space Boyfriends to make this perfect.

Greenland, AD 1000More
than her fiery hair marks Freydís as the daughter of Erik the Red; her
hot temper and fierce pride are as formidable as her Viking father’s.
And so, too, is her devotion to the great god Thor, which puts her at
odds with those in power—including her own brother, the zealous Leif
Eriksson. Determined to forge her own path, she defies her family’s fury
and clings to her dream of sailing away to live on her own terms, with
or without the support of her husband.New Hampshire, 2016Like
her Icelandic ancestors, history professor Emma Moretti is a passionate
defender of Norse mythology. But in a small town steeped in traditional
values, her cultural beliefs could jeopardize both her academic career
and her congressman father’s reelection. Torn between public expectation
and personal identity, family and faith, she must choose which to honor
and which to abandon.In a dramatic, sweeping dual narrative
that spans a millennium, two women struggle against communities
determined to silence them, but neither Freydís nor Emma intends to give
up without a fight.

This author has really become one of my hidden gems-finds over the last two years. Her Helen of Sparta duology was fab and creative and an original take on an ooold familiar legend. I am really excited to see her tackle dual timelines and Vikings.

She's destined to destroy the world... "Cat"
Catalia Fisa has been running from her destiny since she could crawl.
But now, her newfound loved ones are caught between the shadow of Cat's
tortured past and the threat of her world-shattering future. So what's a
girl to do when she knows it's her fate to be the harbinger of doom?
Everything in her power.But not if she can help it.Griffin
knows Cat is destined to change the world-for the better. As the realms
are descending into all-out war, Cat and Griffin must embrace their
fate together. Gods willing, they will emerge side-by-side in the heart
of their future kingdom...or not at all.

The first book in this series wasn't a perfect read, but I was definitely intrigued by the characters and the world the author had created. If the sequel is similar to A Promise of Fire, this will be more romance than fantasy but I am here for it.

EmpressRhee,
also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir
to a powerful dynasty. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and
claim her throne.

FugitiveAly has risen above his war
refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a holo-vision show.
But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he's forced to prove his
innocence to save his reputation—and his life.

MadmanWith
planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly are thrown together to
confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.

This has been described to me as "Arya Stark in space" and I am 100% here for all of that. It's also being recc'd to fans of the Lunar Chronicles so basically I hope it's a book full of a diverse cast of ass-kicking females who get shit done in ways both literal and intellectual (aka gimme a Sansa character too, pls.)

It all started with the burning of the spindles.No.It all started with a curse...Half
sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king's
headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries;
Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her
voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have
always been extremely close.And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora's blood--and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.As
the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle
must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of
true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.Isabelle
crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls;
and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom
falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a
strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret
to her escape . . . or the reason for her to stay.Spindle Fire
is a lush fantasy set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the
fae and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines.

I am a continual sucker for fairytale retellings of any kind. This particular one sounds so good and the cover is lovely and I have an ARC and who would be able to resist in that situation? Here's hoping the execution delivers what the premise promises.

Built on the backs of
those who fell before it, Julius Caesar s imperial dynasty is only as
strong as the next person who seeks to control it. In the Roman Empire
no one is safe from the sting of betrayal: man, woman or child.

As a
boy, Nero s royal heritage becomes a threat to his very life, first
when the mad emperor Caligula tries to drown him, then when his great
aunt attempts to secure her own son s inheritance. Faced with shocking
acts of treachery, young Nero is dealt a harsh lesson: it is better to
be cruel than dead.

While Nero idealizes the artistic and athletic
principles of Greece, his very survival rests on his ability to navigate
the sea of vipers that is Rome. The most lethal of all is his own
mother, a cold-blooded woman whose singular goal is to control the
empire. With cunning and poison, the obstacles fall one by one. But as
Agrippina s machinations earn her son a title he is both tempted and
terrified to assume, Nero's determination to escape her thrall will
shape him into the man he was fated to become an Emperor who became
legendary.

With impeccable research and captivating prose, The Confessions of Young Nero
is the story of a boy s ruthless ascension to the throne. Detailing his
journey from innocent youth to infamous ruler, it is an epic tale of
the lengths to which man will go in the ultimate quest for power and
survival."

Margaret George's books are huge and daunting but they are also so detailed and intricate that it's worth the time/effort/sore shoulder. She's retold the lives of a lot of fascinating people throughout history but her take on Nero is sure to be complex and nuanced.

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.Allegedly.
She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the
media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died
while under the care of a church-going black woman and her nine-year-old
daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But
did she do it? She wouldn’t say.Mary survived six years in baby
jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really
“home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home.
Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.There
wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got
Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to
take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate
lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma.
No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?In
this gritty and haunting debut, Tiffany D. Jackson explores the grey
areas in our understanding of justice, family, and truth, and
acknowledges the light and darkness alive in all of us.

Thanks to Dahlia Adler for reading this and put it on my radar. I've been anticipating reading it since October. The synopsis is unforgettable and I have only continued to hear good things since ARCs went out a few months ago.

2 comments:

Anything compared to Firefly is an immediate add so yes, Shadow Run is on my list. lol Sooooo excited for Strange the Dreamer and I have GOT to make time to read The Falconer. I LOVE the sound of Daughter of a Thousand Years though... never heard of this author before! Thanks for the heads up. :)